Ghost Go
by Luce Red
Summary: Hikaru finds himself playing an unusual game.


Title: Ghost Go  
Series: Hikaru no Go  
Author: Luce Red   
Disclaimer: Characters are property of Hotta and Obata, Shueisha, Jump and their affiliated parts.  
Notes/pairings: General, hint of HikaAkira.

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"Here we are!" Shindou exclaimed, after he finally found the key for the gate, and opened it. "What a mess," he complained to his companion as they entered and saw the scattered flowerpots and clumps of sodden soil on the garden path.

"Let's hope it isn't worse inside the house," Touya said. "How long will your grandparents be at your grand-aunt's place?"

"A few days more. The roads aren't safe yet," Shindou said, fitting another key to the front door and pushing open the door. "Trust Grandpa to be more worried about his antiques!"

"You can't blame him. The typhoons have been particularly strong this year."

"Yeah, and Grandpa is afraid thieves will use the opportunity to come when there's no one around," Shindou snorted. "Come in," he invited. "Argh!" he suddenly yelled, stepping back suddenly.

They watched as a black cat stared at them unblinkingly from large amber eyes, before it darted past Shindou's legs and out of the house. "That gave me a start," Shindou said, "It must have come in from one of the windows..." He set his overnight bag down, toed off his shoes and managed to find indoor shoes for Touya and himself.

Touya stood looking around at the main hall of the house, while Shindou explored the house first. "One of the windows in the kitchen is broken; must be where the cat got in," Shindou said, appearing from the hallway. "Come on, I'll show you where to put the bags."

Shindou's room was small, but it was relatively clean and bare. Touya deposited the bags by the door and followed Shindou out again.

The main hall was not very big; an old-looking goban was placed by the window, where it would get the most light. A few stones were laid on it already, reflecting a game in progress. "Who does your grandfather play Go with?"

"Hm?" Shindou looked up from where he was re-arranging a cabinet. "Oh. With Grandma, I think. Though Grandma prefers gardening. Is there a game on the goban?"

"Looks like it," Touya said.

"They must have been playing when Grand-aunt called. Oh, well, we can play later," he replaced the fallen trophies back into the cabinet, and closed the glass door. He came over to look at the goban. "Grandpa usually plays outside. I guess he moved it in when the weather got colder. Let's see... Grandpa is white, he likes to sit on this side. Hey, Grandma made a good move here! Grandpa's going to lose," He snickered.

"I'm going to see what we can do about the kitchen window," Touya said, shaking his head at his behaviour.

"Careful of the broken glass!" Shindou yelled after him. After a few moments, he couldn't resist. Taking up a stone, he placed it on 10-5. "I'm helping you to counter Grandma's hand, Gramps," he said, chuckled, and went to help Touya.

Together they swept up the broken glass and taped up the window-frame. Touya went to the main hall to call the glaziers to replace the window, and came back to help Shindou clean up the rest of the kitchen. They debated whether they should order in or actually cook.

"Well, do they deliver out to here? It's quite far," Touya reminded him.

"I'll call and ask," Shindou said. "Can you check what we have to cook, just in case?" He walked out to the main hall to use the phone, and discovered to his dismay that due to the uncertain weather, the restaurant was not making any deliveries. Grumbling at the bad luck, he was walking back to the kitchen when he noticed the goban. With a start he realized that a black stone had been placed on the diagonal to his earlier move, a direct attack. "Must be Touya, when he came out here just now." He stifled a grin. "Looks like he can't resist helping Grandma. Well, what about this?" He placed another white stone, 5-5, and skipped to the kitchen.

They could cook rice, and make soup, and on hearing that Shindou's grandmother grew vegetables, Touya stepped out to see it there was anything they could cook. He came back with eggplants while Shindou started to dig out the vacuum cleaner. He had finished the hallways, and reached the main hall, before walking to the goban. Sure enough, there was a reply to his last move. "Let's see what you'll do with this," he said, and placed another stone, 15-2.

He finished vacuuming the floor, to find that Touya had already finished mopping the rooms. "Great! That should satisfy Grandma," he said, looking around the cleaned-up main hall.

"Your grandfather's store," Touya said.

"Uh, right," Shindou's face sobered slightly. He went to get a washcloth, and when he returned, Touya was nowhere to be seen. "Touya!" he called out, and his attention was caught by the goban again. His hand had been neatly countered, again. "I thought you might do that," he muttered, attacking aggressively with a stone on 3-6. "Touya!" he called again.

"Over here!" The voice came from the direction of the store. He went there to find Touya already waiting for him. They climbed the narrow stairs to the attic which served as his grandfather's store for his antiques. Touya watched as he cleaned Sai's goban, and together they dusted the place from top to bottom.

"Oof." Shindou paused when they finally climbed down again. "I don't think I've done that much work in one day," he said. "I'm starving. Let's have lunch soon."

"Fine with me," Touya said. "There's a convenience store not far from here, isn't there?"

"Yeah. Tiny place. Why?" Shindou wiped perspiration from his brow.

"I noticed that the light bulb in the bathroom is flickering, and I can't find any replacements. I thought I'd go and buy some."

"Oh. Maybe I should go? I know the place, anyway?"

"See if you can buy anything to cook for dinner, then."

"Right," Shindou went to the bedroom to take his wallet. "I'm going!" he yelled in the direction of the kitchen.

"Have a safe trip." He heard Touya mutter, and grinned. He passed by the goban, and took a moment to place another white stone, 5-7, in response to the newest hand.

When he got back, he placed yet another white stone, 9-8, in response. It was as though they were playing blind Go, he thought. "I'm back! I got the light bulbs, and I bought ramen to cook for tonight," he said.

Touya tried not to roll his eyes. "I might have thought you would do that," he said.

At lunch, Shindou grumbled about his grandfather's worries. "Nothing else seems to have been damaged by the storm, then," he said, "Except for the kitchen window, but they're fixing it tomorrow."

"The garden," Touya reminded him.

"Right," Shindou groaned.

After lunch, they spent the next three hours picking up the broken pieces of the flowerpots, throwing away the dead plants and cleaning up the clumps of soil. It was late in the afternoon when they were finally done. Between the clearing and and washing, Shindou found occasion to step into the main hall and added another three stones in response to the the hands that were placed there.

They had ramen for dinner, and did the washing-up. They ended up sharing the bath. "This is fun," Shindou said, lying back to soak up the hot water. "So, why did you play pincer to my 9-8, anyway? I thought you were going to capture it."

"What are you talking about?"

"The game we've been playing all day."

"Shindou, we haven't been playing any games. At least, I haven't."

"But..." An indescribable feeling seized Shindou. "Grandpa's goban. You haven't been playing on it?"

"Shindou, I wouldn't be so rude as to play another person's game without permission," Touya said.

Shindou didn't say anything.

"Shindou?"

The flickering light bulb chose that moment to blink out.

"AHHH!"

--------the end------------


End file.
